


bloom

by kimannhart



Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Fluff, M/M, Not Beta Read, Valentine's Day, Valentine's Day Fluff, We die like real men, sharon is a good bro, soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-15
Updated: 2019-02-15
Packaged: 2019-10-28 22:13:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,370
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17795714
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kimannhart/pseuds/kimannhart
Summary: “You got me flowers?”“I, um, yeah. Yeah, I did.”“Why?”“Because whenever I see these flowers, they remind me of you”“Why is this section of the bouquet just stems?”“I… Uh… Kinda dropped them, and they got ran over?”“Still beautiful. Just like you.”





	bloom

**Author's Note:**

  * For [martianwahtney](https://archiveofourown.org/users/martianwahtney/gifts), [deanscassettetape](https://archiveofourown.org/users/deanscassettetape/gifts).



> for chels: because she deserves everything good in this world and because i love her  
> for jena: because she gave me the prompt and also because i love her
> 
> also this not beta read so all mistakes are my own. i hope you enjoy my first published fic.

Valentine’s Day is a holiday that Tony has always loved. When he was younger, he always spent the few days before making personalized cards for the people he loved the most: his mother, Jarvis, Ana, Aunt Peggy, and Sharon. Howard used to be included in the list, up until the moment he barely spared a glance to the card that Tony made before tossing it into the trash in front of him.

It’s been years since Tony had started his tradition, and there’s only been one addition to his list since he started.

Rhodey. 

The pair had shared a few classes together, but they barely interacted at first—this was mostly due to Tony always escaping, or in Sharon’s eyes running away, whenever Rhodey tried to approach him.

But that all changed the moment Tony was actually forced to speak to Rhodey, or the time Tony accidentally slammed the restroom door in the poor boy’s face as Tony was walking in. Tony profusely apologized to Rhodey before offering to buy him lunch as an official apology. Luckily for Tony, Rhodey accepted.

From that point on, their friendship had blossomed. Going from awkward conversations, to nerding out over the latest development in robotics, to becoming each other’s go-to-person, to slowly leaning into each other’s touch and being absolutely comfortable.

Tony doesn’t really remember when he started falling for Rhodey, but everytime he looks at Rhodey now, he gets those butterflies in his stomach that he always hears Ana mention whenever she talks about Jarvis. Despite Tony knowing he has feelings for his best friend, he has done absolutely nothing about it. Sharon had teased him endlessly about it. She told him that she was one hundred percent positive that Rhodey liked him just as much as he did and that she has never been wrong about something like this before. Sharon had kept pushing Tony into doing something about his feelings, but Tony wouldn’t budge. 

But, a new year was about to begin and that meant Valentine’s Day was going to be coming up. For Tony, he had decided that he was finally going to let his feelings be known. At first, Tony had elaborate ideas fill his brain on how he should tell Rhodey. His favorite one was hiring a mariachi band and having a florist make a sculpture saying, “I love you,” but that idea was immediately nixed by Sharon. She said that he was making too big of a spectacle of something that should be simple. Tony knew that Sharon was right—though a small part of him wanted to hire the florist and mariachi band anyway to just spite her—and that his focus should just be on Rhodey and telling him how much he loves and cares for him. So, Tony was going to take Sharon’s advice, for once, and keep it simple.

He was going to give Rhodey one of his handmade cards and a bouquet of flowers.

 

* * *

 

Valentine’s Day had finally arrived and Tony could not be anymore excited than he could be. He had everything planned out perfectly in his head: he was going to dress in the outfit that Rhodey said looked the best on him, he was going to head over to his local florist shop and pick up the custom bouquet that he ordered a month prior, and then he was going to meet Rhodey at his locker and hand him the card and flowers before diving into the speech he practiced last night in his bathroom mirror.

However, luck did not seem to be on Tony’s side.

He woke up late and had to get ready in a frenzy if he wanted to get to school on time. Tony cursed his past self for falling asleep before setting his alarm. Tony was going to try his best to not let that one mistake ruin his mood and his plans for the day.

The moment that Tony stepped outside he was surprised to see the pouring rain. A part of him wanted to run back inside and look for his umbrella, but he was late enough as is. So, Tony went on ahead to the florist.

Luckily when he got there, the bouquet that Tony requested was there and ready to go. A small burst of hope was reignited in Tony as he walked out of the shop. But that hope was immediately extinguished when Tony slipped. He ended up ruining his outfit and was now soaking wet. Though, that wasn’t even the worst part. The bouquet that Tony was holding got tossed out of his hand when he slipped. Tony’s eyes widen when he saw that the flowers had landed in the middle of the road. He was about to go and pick them up till a car honked at him, causing Tony to jump out of the way. He pouted when he picked up the flowers and saw that a small part of them were ruined.

 

* * *

 

_Squish. Squish._ _Squish._  

Tony had his head downcasted with a wet ruined card in one hand and a dirty bouquet in the other, as he made his way to Rhodey’s locker. Any confidence that Tony had from last night had disappeared. He was about to toss both the card and flowers in the trash but a voice called out to him. 

“Hey Tones, are you okay?”

Tony froze. His shoes squeaked as he turned around.

“Uh, hey Rhodey.”

“I see you took a shower,” he teased. “Whatcha got in your hands there?”

“Oh, uh…” Tony paused. This was it. Tony could either fess up or lie his way out. He was going to choose the latter til a cough from just up ahead of them caught his attention. He glanced towards the sound and saw Sharon giving him an encouraging smile before mouthing, _Do it!_

Tony shut his eyes and let out a deep breath. He handed the card and flowers to Rhodey. “They’re for you.” He simply stated as Rhodey took them. A few moments had passed and Rhodey still hadn’t said anything. The panic took over Tony and he began to ramble out apologizes about how sorry he was that his card was wet and how the flowers don’t look as nice as they should be. He was about to confess his feelings for him but Rhodey cut him off.

“You got me flowers?” 

“I, um, yeah. Yeah, I did.”

“Why?”

“Because whenever I see these flowers, they remind me of you,” he admitted.

Rhodey didn’t reply. He was quiet for a bit, taking his time to analyze the red tulips and white calla lilies. Tony bit his bottom lip, as he waited nervously for Rhodey’s response. 

“Why is this section of the bouquet just stems?” 

“Ah, well you see,” he started before scratching the back of his neck. “I… Uh… Kinda dropped them, and they got ran over?”

Rhodey let out a small chuckle as his fingers carefully touched one one of the tulips. “Still beautiful. Just like you.”

“Beautiful? A part of the bouquet is missing its flowers! You cal- wait what?” Tony replied as his brain finally caught up to the latter of what Rhodey has said.

“I said they’re still beautiful. Just like you.”

“I… Oh.” A blush started to appear on Tony’s cheeks. “Do… Do you really think I’m beautiful?”

“Yeah, I do,” Rhodey replied as he gave Tony a soft smile.

The hope was once again reignited in Tony. Feeling a bit more better about the chances of his feelings being reciprocated, Tony shyly glanced up at Rhodey. “Will you go on a date with me?”

“Of course I would.”

A few seconds passed before Tony spoke again. “Hey Rhodey?”

“Yeah Tones?”

“Can I kiss you?”

“Yeah, yeah you can.” 

As their lips met, Tony was sure that has never felt any happier. 

“IT’S ABOUT TIME!” 

Rhodey and Tony broke apart and stared at Sharon. 

“What? I had to watch for months as you two idiots do absolutely nothing about your feelings. LET ME HAVE THIS!” 

The pair laughed as Rhodey wrapped his arms around Tony, not caring about getting his own clothes wet. 

“Hey Tony?”

“Yeah?”

“Happy Valentine’s Day.”

“Happy Valentine’s Day Rhodey.”


End file.
